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Awix (3310 KP) rated Dirty Dancing (1987) in Movies

Sep 14, 2020 (Updated Sep 14, 2020)  
Dirty Dancing  (1987)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
1987 | Drama, Music, Romance
(My partner made me watch it after I forced her to sit through one Hammer horror too many.) Cheese-tastic dance movie. Innocent young girl experiences dance-oriented sexual awakening at a grim holiday camp in 1963. This mostly takes the form of her just standing there looking bemused while Patrick Swayze performs whole-body pelvic thrusts in her direction.

'The ultimate chick flick' (according to her indoors anyway) but looks just like a rather corny terpsichorean melodrama to me, not especially well-acted or directed - very reminiscent of films from the period in which it is set, although with a bit of slightly grittier content. That said, the soundtrack ping-pongs back and forth between the early 60s and the late 80s. In the end I did enjoy it a lot, although probably not for the reasons the makers intended (I particularly liked the moment where a bit of suspect editing makes it look like one guy is playing a sax solo on a trumpet). Silly, harmless fun.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Sisterland in Books

Dec 14, 2018  
Sisterland
Sisterland
Curtis Sittenfeld | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to - I had been slightly wary of reading Curtis Sittenfeld’s <i>Sisterland</i> after seeing that it has been listed as Chick Lit on <i>Goodreads</i>. It is a story about two sisters (the title sort of gives that away) – twins in fact: Violet and Daisy. Although for the majority of the novel the narrator, Daisy, is known as Kate.

The chapters alternate between past and present, which helps the reader to understand the characters and their developments whilst the main story line is being played out. I say present but you later discover that Kate is actually narrating these events a couple of years after although this was not clear and the beginning.

Vi and Kate both have ESP or “senses” meaning that they occasionally experience visions, thoughts, or feelings about certain people or events that are yet to occur. When Vi receives a message about an earthquake due to occur in their hometown, the media ends up getting involved, speculating how much truth there is behind this prediction.

As the supposed “doomsday” date approaches, Vi and Kate’s relationship has its ups and down – something which seems to have been the case throughout most of their lives. But the main question is will there be an earthquake or is it, perhaps, a metaphor for events taking place in Kate’s own home and family?

While reading I felt as though I was - I am not really sure how to word it – perhaps growing close to the narrator as she recounted her tale. Learning about Kate as a person and understand and relating to how she felt and acted. This meant, however, that I became disappointed in Kate for making a certain bad decision – or more like giving in to an impulse. I will not reveal what that is as I do not want to spoil the book for anyone who has not yet read it.

As I have already said, I did enjoy this book. Personally I would not label it as Chick Lit, although I will not deny that it is intended for women to read. It is a contemporary, fictional novel with a hint of fantasy or the paranormal about it. I would recommend it to readers who appreciate other novels of a similar genre.
  
The Snowman (Harry Hole #7) (Oslo Sequence #5)
The Snowman (Harry Hole #7) (Oslo Sequence #5)
Don Bartlett, Jo Nesbo | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.7 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting Villian (1 more)
Chilling Setting
Token Crazy Chick (1 more)
Awkward Writing
Glad I read this before the film came out
I read this to get ready to see the film - which I did not end up going to due to abysmal ratings. So glad I did, because the case in this novel was incredibly compelling. It wasn't an earth-shattering tale, but stood on its own ground. The cold, Nordic settings lent itself to the isolated Harry Hole. Although predictable, I still felt for Harry and thought he was realistic enough.

The only things I would say were not in favor of the book were (1) There is a moment in the book where a female character kind of goes off the deep end...and (2) There is awkward writing where the author tries to slip in pop culture references that seem to come out of nowhere. Number 1 just didn't lend itself that greatly to the plot, and I really felt like it could have done without the incident altogether. And 2 just needed to be ignored.


Other than that, it was a very entertaining read and I'm glad I picked it up before the film ruined my perceptions!
  
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Amanda Palmer recommended Upstairs At Erics by Yazoo in Music (curated)

 
Upstairs At Erics by Yazoo
Upstairs At Erics by Yazoo
2008 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I got this in sixth grade. First of all, the artwork, with those two mannequins sitting at a table, was so weird. That by itself puts it into a class of its own, because most of the other records in my collection just had pictures of pop stars. The songwriting was so beautiful and so simple and so strong, but I was also really compelled by Alison Moyet's voice. Still to this day, I generally don't like chick singers – their high squeaky voices irritate me! But Alison Moyet, sort of like Laurie Anderson, had this really beautiful, growly, rough, bluesy, believable voice. When she sang, I just bought every second of it. I believed her. And the tracks are catchy as all get out. 'In My Room' is one of my favourite songs of all time – the band and I are working on a cover of it. I'm tracing back the genealogy of my new record, and it's in those early Yazoo records, along with Soft Cell and The Cars... what they were able to do with a couple of synthesisers and really simple chord changes, great melodies and believable delivery."

Source
  
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Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated The loved ones (2009) in Movies

Sep 6, 2019 (Updated Sep 13, 2019)  
The loved ones (2009)
The loved ones (2009)
2009 | Horror, Thriller
10
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Perfect.
2. The Loved Ones. Perfect. This movie was freakin awesome. Comes from the land down under, written and directed by a dude named Sean Byrne. Story goes a little something like (hit it), damaged girl asks damaged boy to prom, but boy has a girlfriend already says no, awww. Girl's dad kidnaps boy and together as a family tortures the shit out of him. It was pure twisted fun, not so much horror, more like bloody torture film. Music was awesome, background stories of characters were cool. You believed the crazy people were in fact fucking insane, and the boy was in some serious pain! Stars Xavier Samuel as Brent the boy, who looks like Prince Casian and Bella Swan had a kid. (I'm sorry for the two references from 2 of the worst film series in a while but, oh well, Xavier was in on of em...) And Robin McLeavy as Lola, the insane chick, she's also the hot frontier woman with the tattoo on her face from Hell on Wheels! But seriously, fans of "this kind" of movie should check it out... Its clever... Peace... filmbufftim on FB
  
I liked the group of friends and their adventure to San Francisco. I too, explored the city, when I went there a few years ago and it reminded me of a lot of what I got up to down at Fisherman's Wharf. I also liked Landon and his wanting to help Celia however he could in relationship to her ex and money wise and how you could see how much he really liked/loved her.

It was just a little too much chick-lit--focusing a lot more on the friends and their relationship than her romance with Landon--for my liking. Not that I didn't enjoy what they got up to, and her adventures with Landon, of course, but I like my books to concentrate more on the romance than anything else.

I wish I'd read the first book in the series so I could see Bonni and Quinn's romance and how Landon's and Celia's romance started. I'm sure that things will be continued in the next book with these two and figuring out what's going to happen with her ex-husband but I'm not sure if I'll continue the series at this point.